EP0353061A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Blowing agents for polyurethane foam
Assignee: PMC Inc
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Filing: 1989-07-27
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2009-07-27
Abstract
Abstract Improved methods are provided for incorporating carbon dioxide and carbon dioxide generating compounds into polyurethane foam forming compositions as blowing agents to eliminate or reduce the amount of low boiling liquid auxiliary blowing agents, such as methylene chloride and chlorofluorocarbons conventionally used in the manufacture of urethane foams.
Inventors
- 👤 Herman Stone
- 👤 Steve Lichvar
- 👤 Charles W. Bredbenner
- 👤 Richard Rupp
- 👤 Elmer Minnich
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-02 14:16
CPC Classifications
C; C08; C08J; C08J9/00; C08J9/04; C08J9/12; C08J9/122; C08J2203/00; C08J2203/08; C08J2375/00; C08J2375/04
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 39
Claim 1
Independent Claim
123 words
In the method for the continuous manufacture of flexible free rise polyurethane foam from reactants comprising at least one polyol and at least one reactive isocyanate where the reaction mixture includes water as a blowing agent and CO₂ is incorporated into one of the liquid reactant constituents, or into a blend of one or more of the liquid reactant constituents, and the reactants are introduced under pressure through feed lines into a conventional mixer through two or more feed streams, the improvement which comprises: injecting gaseous CO₂ under pressure into the feed stream of one or more of the liquid constituents of the foam forming composition at a distance from the mixer which will maximize the dissolution of CO₂ in the feed stream.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
123 words
In the method for the continuous manufacture of flexible free rise polyurethane foam from reactants comprising at least one polyol and at least one reactive isocyanate where the reaction mixture includes water as a blowing agent and CO₂ is incorporated into one of the liquid reactant constituents, or into a blend of one or more of the liquid reactant constituents, and the reactants are introduced under pressure through feed lines into a conventional mixer through two or more feed streams, the improvement which comprises: injecting gaseous CO₂ under pressure into the feed stream of one or more of the liquid constituents of the foam forming composition at a distance from the mixer which will maximize the dissolution of CO₂ in the feed stream.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method of claim 1 where each of the liquid reactants streams are pressurized by a metering pump for delivery to the mixer, and the CO₂ is injected into the reactant feed line downstream of the pump.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 1 where the feed stream containing the injected CO₂ passes through a static mixing zone.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method of claim 3 where the static mixing zone is upstream of the mixer.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
40 words
In the method of claim 1, the improvement which further comprises reducing the temperature of the liquid reactant into which the CO₂ is injected to less than ambient temperature to thereby increase the solubility of the CO₂ in the reactant.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of claim 5 in which the temperature of the liquid reactant into which the CO₂ is injected is in the range of 45°F to 60°F.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method of claim 1, where the CO₂ is introduced into liquid reactant comprising polyol.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
14 words
The method of claim 7 where the liquid reactant also contains a silicone emulsifier.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method of claim 7 where the liquid reactant further includes the reactive isocyanate compound.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of claim 7 where the polyol is selected from the group consisting of branched side chain polyols, ACN and styrene grafted copolymer.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method of claim 1, where the CO₂ is introduced into the isocyanate reactant feedstream.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
92 words
In the method for the continuous manufacture of flexible polyurethane foam in conventional apparatus from the reaction of at least one polyol with at least one isocyanate where the reaction includes water as a blowing agent and CO₂ is incorporated into the polyol containing liquid component and the polyol and isocyanate reactants are introduced into a mixer as separate feedstreams, the improvement which comprises injecting CO₂ under pressure into the polyol feedstream and the isocyanate feedstream at a distance that will maximize the dissolution of the CO₂ in the polyol and isocyanate.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
92 words
In the method for the continuous manufacture of flexible polyurethane foam in conventional apparatus from the reaction of at least one polyol with at least one isocyanate where the reaction includes water as a blowing agent and CO₂ is incorporated into the polyol containing liquid component and the polyol and isocyanate reactants are introduced into a mixer as separate feedstreams, the improvement which comprises injecting CO₂ under pressure into the polyol feedstream and the isocyanate feedstream at a distance that will maximize the dissolution of the CO₂ in the polyol and isocyanate.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method of claim 12 in which the rate of a CO₂ injection is sufficient to saturate the feed stream comprising the reactant.
Claim 16
Independent Claim
26 words
The method of claims 1 and 12 in which gaseous CO₂ is introduced into the storage vessels for one or more of the foam forming ingredients.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
28 words
The method of claims 1 and 12 in which CO₂ is bubbled through the polyol reactant contained in a storage vessel until the polyol is saturated with CO₂.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
13 words
The method of claim 15 in which the polyol is a polyester polyol.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
13 words
The method of claim 15 in which the polyol is a polyether polyol.
Claim 20
Independent Claim
29 words
The method of claims 1 and 12 in which CO₂ is bubbled through the polyol and polyisocyanate reactants contained in storage vessels until said reactants are saturated with CO₂.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 18 where the liquid reactant is stirred during contact with the CO₂ gas.
Claim 22
Independent Claim
24 words
The method of claims 1 and 12 in which an atmosphere of gaseous CO₂ is maintained in the storage vessel containing the polyol reactant.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 20 in which the atmosphere of CO₂ above the liquid reactants is at a pressure of 15 psi to 100 psi.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 21 where the pressure of the CO₂ in the storage vessel is from 30 psi to 80 psi.
Claim 25
Independent Claim
26 words
The method of claims 1 and 12 where the liquid reactants are subjected to vacuum degassing to remove dissolved gasses prior to being contacted with CO₂.
Claim 26
Independent Claim
28 words
The method of claims 1 and 12 in which one or more of the liquid reactants are maintained at a temperature in the range from 40° to 60°F.
Claim 27
Independent Claim
33 words
The method of claims 1 and 12 in which the temperature of the foam-forming reaction is increased following its discharge from the mixer by an external heat source to accelerate the foaming reaction.
Claim 28
Independent Claim
17 words
The method of claims 1 and 12 in which the polyol reactant comprises a difunctional graft polyol.
Claim 29
Independent Claim
33 words
The method of claims 1 and 12 in which a portion of the polyol reactant comprises a graft polyether diol where the copolymer is selected from the group consisting of styrene and acrylonitrile.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method of claim 25 in which the diol comprises from 5% to 95% of the total poyol reactant mixture.
Claim 31
Independent Claim
29 words
The method of claims 1 and 12 in which the polyol is a polyether polyol containing a silicone emulsifier of the type employed in the manufacture of polyurethane foam.
Claim 32
Independent Claim
50 words
The method of claims 1 and 12 in which the solubility of CO₂ in the liquid reactants is increased by the addition to the polyol of a compound, or mixture of compounds, selected from the group consisting of: (a) methyl acetylene (b) hydroxyl amine (c) glyoxal (d) butyrolactone (e) caprolactam
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
29 words
The method of claim 30 where the compound, or mixture of compounds, is present in the polyol in the range of from at least 3 phr to 5 phr.
Claim 34
Independent Claim
48 words
The method of claims 1 and 12 in which the polyol reactant further comprises a compound, or mixtures of CO₂ generating compounds, selected from the group consisting of: (a) low molecular weight organic carbonates including ethylene carbonate and propylene carbonate; and (b) ammonium hydrogen carbonate and guanidine carbonate.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
86 words
The method of claim 32 in which the CO₂ generating compounds are incorporated into the polyol reactant with a compound, or a mixture of compounds which accelerate the decomposition of the CO₂ generating compounds, selected from the group consisting of: (a) carbonates and bicarbonates of magnesium, calcium and aluminum; (b) sodium alumina silicate clays; (c) MgO, Al₂O₃ and SiO₂ in the form of solids having a high surface area to volume ratio; and (d) charcoal derived from sources providing a high surface area to volume ratio.
Claim 36
Independent Claim
31 words
The method of claims 1 and 12 in which the polyol reactant comprises a mixture of a polyether polyol and a nonionic sugar derivative to increase the viscosity of the polyol.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method of claim 34 in which the nonionic sugar derivative is polyethylene glycol 120 methyl glucose dioleate.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
112 words
In the method for the continuous manufacture of polyurethane foam from reactants comprising at least one polyol and at least one isocyanate where the reaction mixture includes water as a blowing agent and CO₂ is incorporated into at least one of the liquid reactants, the improvement which comprises maintaining the pressure on the reactants above that at which CO₂ vaporizes and adding CO₂ as a supercritical fluid constituent to one or more of the liquid reactants comprising polyol and isocyanate which are maintained at a temperature of at least 90°F, and mixing the liquid reactants at a pressure of at least 1000 psi and discharging the mixed foam-forming reactants at atmospheric pressure.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
112 words
In the method for the continuous manufacture of polyurethane foam from reactants comprising at least one polyol and at least one isocyanate where the reaction mixture includes water as a blowing agent and CO₂ is incorporated into at least one of the liquid reactants, the improvement which comprises maintaining the pressure on the reactants above that at which CO₂ vaporizes and adding CO₂ as a supercritical fluid constituent to one or more of the liquid reactants comprising polyol and isocyanate which are maintained at a temperature of at least 90°F, and mixing the liquid reactants at a pressure of at least 1000 psi and discharging the mixed foam-forming reactants at atmospheric pressure.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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